BAGHDAD (AP)  Preliminary figures show that violent deaths in Iraq dropped substantially in August from record levels the previous month, a Health Ministry official said Thursday.

Most of the recorded killings were of civilians.

At least 973 violent deaths were recorded throughout Iraq as of Wednesday, Riad Abdul Amir of the ministry's statistics bureau told the Associated Press. They included 715 civilians, 80 Iraqi soldiers, 74 police and 104 "terrorists," he said.

Accurate figures have been problematic. Police and hospitals often give conflicting figures of those killed in major bombings. It is also unclear how many people have been abducted and slain by insurgents or death squads, their bodies never found.

Still, the new figure represents a significant drop from a tally of 3,500 deaths in July reported by Deputy Health Minister Adel Muhsin. Muhsin said that was the highest monthly figure recorded since the war began in March 2003.

Violent deaths in the capital fell to 550 in August, from about 1,500 in Baghdad in July. That was the city's lowest monthly tally this year.

Abdul Amir's figures were compiled from reports by morgues and the Interior and Defense ministries.

A security crackdown was launched Aug. 7 in Baghdad. About 8,000 U.S. troops and 3,000 Iraqi soldiers were sent to the capital to search homes and patrol streets.

It is not clear whether the apparent decline in deaths is part of a long-term trend: A surge of violence has killed more than 250 people in the Baghdad area since Sunday.

A final ministry count for the month will be ready next week.

In other news in Iraq:

 Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraqi forces will take responsibility for Thi-Qar province in the south this month. Thi-Qar would be the second of Iraq's 18 provinces that local forces would control.

"This makes us optimistic and proud because we managed to fulfill our promise," the prime minister said.

 At least 68 people were killed across the country, most in a barrage of attacks in Baghdad: car bombs, a roadside bomb and rocket and mortar attacks that killed 47.

 A bomb blast killed a U.S. soldier in Anbar province Wednesday.

 Reuters reported that the United States has expanded its force in Iraq to 140,000 troops, the most since January and 13,000 more than five weeks ago. The U.S. force in Iraq peaked last fall at about 160,000 troops to help protect two Iraqi elections.

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